Teleprompter Remotes

The Airturn Digit3 is one of the more premium options listed here. It has a built rechargeable battery. Charges via micro-usb. It supports reporting battery status via bluetooth so fluidprompter can warn you if your battery is running low.

This remote supports auto-shutoff if not used for sometime which saves the battery. However one con is that it is very easy to press the buttons if you put the remote in your pocket.

The Neewer RT110 Teleprompter Remote is a nice size in the hand in my opinion. The button layout makes it easy to know what you are pressing without looking at the remote (could be held under a table for example). This remote is powered by two AAA batteries which are easy to buy virtually anywhere. This is one of the larger remotes and has decent wireless range. One day I’ll do a more academic head-to-head comparison of all the remotes’ wireless range characteristics.

Potential Cons: This remote only provides apps with a “button down” notification and no “button up” notification. This means FluidPrompter cannot detect long presses, double clicks or a button being held down. Additionally the remote buttons are noticeably clicky sounding. If you are alone filming and have an expander/gate on your audio, it probably won’t be a problem. However if you intend to press the buttons while you are talking near a mic, you may pick-up the click sounds on video.

The YC Onion Teleprompter Remote is great value for money. It has 7 buttons which feel good - soft enough to not be heard on video, but tactile enough you feel confident pressing the buttons. This remote is powered by a small coin cell battery - the ubiquitous CR2032 (you can buy these anywhere).

Potential Cons: This remote has a physical power switch and no auto-shutoff. It could be easy to leave the remote on in your camera bag after a shoot and find it dead the next time you want to use it. Also due to it very compact size, it has the shortest range of the remotes I’ve tested. The range is really only about 2 meters or 6ft after which it may start to drop the connection.

FluidPrompter supports the Ikan Elite Remote. This remote is essentially a "bluetooth keyboard" and pairs to your device like any other bluetooth keyboard. This is well suited for iPads where Apple refuses to provide Web Bluetooth connectivity (so they can force app developers onto the app store, where they can take 30% of app developer revenue).

The Ikan remote is powered by 2x AAA batteries. The buttons are quiet and will not be picked up by your mic. However, I find the physical layout of the buttons is hard to know which button you are pressing without looking down at the remote (taking your eyes off camera). All that said, this is currently the best option of prompting on an iPad with FluidPrompter.

FluidPrompter supports the Contour ShuttleXpress wired USB controller. This is one of the most popular prompter app remotes in the industry, in part due to its low cost and simplicity. The ShuttleXpress has a 6ft USB cable with the traditional USB-A conector on the end.

The ShuttleXpress has 5 buttons, a shuttle ring and a jogwheel. By default the center button toggles play/pause while the buttons to the left and right of center will skip backwards and forwards in your script. The shuttle ring allows for 7 levels of momentary scrolling either forwards or backwards. The jog wheel will scroll your script when paused or will adjust the scroll speed when playing.

FluidPrompter supports the Contour Shuttle Pro V2 wired USB controller. This pro model features a higher quality jog wheel when compared to the lower cost ShuttleXpress. The Shuttle Pro v2 also has a 6ft USB cable with the traditional USB-A conector on the end.

The Shuttle Pro v2 has 15 buttons, a shuttle ring and a jogwheel. It functions similarly to the ShuttleXpress.

FluidPrompter supports the Moman FS1 Foot Pedal. This is one of the lowest cost teleprompter foot pedals on the market and provides basic go/stop control of your prompter when pressed.

Potential Cons: This moman pedal has a proprietary USB-to-barrel jack charging cable and cannot be charged without it. And while it's rechargeable, it has no visual indicators (no LEDs or screen) for power status or low battery and does not report battery charge level in software. The pedal also has a distinct audible click sound when pressed which will likely be captured on camera making it less useful throughout your presentation, though still fine for the initial start and final stop of each recorded segment or "take".

If you are on a budget, this pedal can work! But if you can spare a few dollars more, we'd recommend checking out the AirTurn Duo foot pedal instead which is silent, has LED indicators for both power and battery status and also reports battery level in software.

FluidPrompter supports any gamepad controller that conforms to the browser Gamepad API standard.

We've tested several 8BitDo Gamepads which has support for both windows and mac computers.